A finite element formulation for the simulation of propagating delaminations in layered composite structures

• Published in: International journal for numerical methods in engineering Vol. 51; no. 11; pp. 1337 - 1359
• Main Authors: Wagner, W., Gruttmann, F., Sprenger, W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 20.08.2001
• Subjects: composite laminates; delamination; finite elements; viscoplasticity
• ISSN: 0029-5981; 1097-0207
• DOI: 10.1002/nme.210

This paper presents a finite element method to simulate growing delaminations in composite structures. The delamination process, using an inelastic material law with softening, takes place within an interface layer having a small, but non‐vanishing thickness. A stress criterion is used to detect the critical points. To prevent mesh‐dependent solutions a regularization technique is applied. The artificial viscosity leads to corresponding stiffness matrices which guarantee stable equilibrium iterations. The essential material parameter which describes the delamination process is the critical energy release rate. The finite element calculations document the robustness and effectivity of the developed model. Extensive parameter studies are performed to show the influence of the introduced geometrical and material quantities. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.